RaySearch Releases RayStation 5 with Support for Carbon Ion Radiotherapy

Latest release also includes Plan Explorer to generate a large number of treatment plans for an individual patient

February 17, 2016 — RaySearch Laboratories AB announced that version 5 of the RayStation treatment planning system has been released for clinical use in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The latest version of the platform is scheduled for release in most major markets during the first half of 2016.

RayStation 5 features carbon ion treatment planning, which represents the most advanced form of radiation therapy, and Plan Explorer, a treatment planning tool that allows clinics to maximize delivery efficiency and plan quality for every individual patient treatment.

Carbon ion therapy is a form of particle therapy that has several clinical advantages. As for other types of particle therapy, the depth of the dose deposition can be precisely controlled, which allows for improved sparing of healthy tissues. Additionally, carbon ions have an increased relative biological effectiveness (RBE) compared with other types of radiation.

An important part of the support for carbon ion treatment planning in RayStation 5 is the precise modeling of RBE, which has been developed in collaboration with the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany. RBE modeling is one of several examples of technologies that will be applicable also to other types of treatment planning in RayStation. The first clinics to adopt this new planning technology are MedAustron in Austria and Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica (CNAO) in Italy.

Plan Explorer is a tool that is based on the capability to automatically generate a large number of treatment plans for an individual patient that span defined combinations of treatment techniques and machines. It also provides efficient means to filter and browse among plan candidates to find the most desired one. This makes it possible to ensure that every radiation treatment is delivered with the highest possible efficiency, with an optimal combination of treatment technique and machine. It will enable clinics to save planning time and to maximize the use of their treatment machine resources.

RayStation 5 also features many new additions such as robust optimization based on 4-D computed tomography (CT) images and unlimited patient data storage. The inclusion of 4-D CT images in the robust optimization process addresses situations where there is significant relative motion of internal organs, such as in the thorax during free breathing.

In order to manage the ever-increasing data volumes associated with modern imaging techniques and high resolution calculations, RayStation 5 allows a more flexible configuration of multiple parallel databases and gradual archiving. This streamlines the upgrade process. RayStation 5 also adds a rich palette of significant improvements within general planning and patient modeling, such as treatment case level, volume rendering, smart brush contouring, side-by-side contouring, improved 3-D conformal radiation therapy (CRT) planning, improvements to plan printouts, plan protocols and scripting and the addition of a module for virtual simulation. As a final point, the graphical user interface has been reworked to further enhance the user experience.